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Gold Award: Understanding Through Color: A Child’s Guide to Medical Tools and Procedures
Visiting the doctor can be stressful for children, especially preschoolers who may feel anxious about unfamiliar medical tools and procedures. Girl Scout Ambassador Madison from Troop 661 in Virginia Beach remembered the stress she experienced during childhood doctor visits and wanted to help other children feel more comfortable. She chose to address this challenge through her Girl Scout Gold Award project, “Understanding Through Color: A Child’s Guide to Medical Tools and Procedures.”
Madison created two interactive coloring sheets featuring common medical tools, including a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, tongue depressor, pulse oximeter, and otoscope. Each tool included a child-friendly description explaining its purpose. By introducing medical equipment through a fun, educational activity, Madison hoped to reduce children’s anxiety by helping them become familiar with the tools they might encounter during a doctor’s visit. She distributed the coloring sheets, which included QR codes linking to a survey, to three pediatric medical offices. Parent survey responses showed a statistically significant decrease in children’s anxiety after they used the coloring sheets, providing measurable evidence of the project’s positive impact.
To further expand her project’s reach, Madison developed an educational trifold presentation board and delivered interactive presentations to 90 children at two area preschools: Broad Bay Manor and LeafSpring School. She introduced the children to six common medical tools, demonstrated how they are used, and left a doctor’s play kit in each classroom so the children could continue learning through hands-on exploration and imaginative play.
“I was happy that my coloring sheets reached children in pediatric waiting rooms, but I feel most proud of the presentations I made to the children at the preschools,” Madison said. “It was incredibly meaningful to watch the children become interested in learning about medical tools and getting involved in the activities. As someone who hopes to pursue a medical career, these presentations were especially rewarding.”
In addition to earning the Girl Scout Gold Award, Madison has also earned the Girl Scout Bronze and Silver Awards. She graduated from the Math and Science Academy at Ocean Lakes High School and is now a freshman at Duke University, pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor. Through her Gold Award project, Madison combined her passion for helping others with her interest in medicine, creating an engaging educational experience that helped young children approach doctor visits with greater confidence and less fear.
Well done, Madison!
